diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 011318cd83..a8d1a6d020 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+5.1.0-dev.144 | 2022-06-30 13:37:40 -0700
+
+  * Optimize 64 bit random number generation (Johanna Amann)
+
+    rand64bit called random 4 times to generate one 64 bit number. There is
+    no reason to do this - random() is basically guaranteed to return a 32
+    bit number.
+
+    This also adds a static check to make sure that it does.
+
 5.1.0-dev.142 | 2022-06-30 12:27:42 -0700
 
   * Remove other general deprecations (Tim Wojtulewicz, Corelight)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 57c16528df..c998faa288 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-5.1.0-dev.142
+5.1.0-dev.144
diff --git a/src/util.cc b/src/util.cc
index 8e8cce8fda..843b04a092 100644
--- a/src/util.cc
+++ b/src/util.cc
@@ -544,8 +544,9 @@ uint64_t rand64bit()
 	uint64_t base = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	for ( i = 1; i <= 4; ++i )
-		base = (base << 16) | detail::random_number();
+	static_assert(RAND_MAX == 2147483647); // 2^32-1
+	for ( i = 1; i <= 2; ++i )
+		base = (base << 32) | detail::random_number();
 	return base;
 	}